I Accidentally Vaporize My Article: ‘Percy Jackson and The Olympians’ Updates

Courtesy of @rickriordan on Instagram

By Adeline Mueller

Percy Jackson and the Olympians fans made out like lightning thieves themselves this weekend at Disney’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, with new content including stills from the show, introductions from the cast, and most notably, the first teaser trailer.  

The much-anticipated Disney+ series is based on Rick Riordan’s 2005 novel The Lightning Thief, in which Percy Jackson, a twelve year-old who can’t seem to escape trouble no matter how hard he tries, finds out he is the powerful demigod son of Poseidon. Not only that, but he’s at the center of a war between the gods over Zeus’s stolen master lightning bolt.  

The title role will be played by The Adam Project (2022) star, Walker Scobell, a thirteen-year-old actor fans trust will capture Percy’s sarcastic nature. Alongside him, Aryan Simhadri (Cheaper by the Dozen (2022), Trevor: The Musical (2022)) will be playing Percy’s loveable best friend Grover Underwood, an avid environmentalist, and also a half-goat creature called a satyr.  

As quests are best completed by teams of three, it’s only right that they’re joined by the wise and witty daughter of Athena, Annabeth Chase, who will be portrayed by Leah Sava Jeffries (Beast (2022)) (RickRiordan.com/news).  

Other notable child actors include Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse La Rue, Charlie Bushnell as Luke Castellan, and Olivia Morton as Nancy Bobofit (RickRiordan.com/news). There is also speculation among fans that actor Andrew Alvarez (Billy the Kid (2022)) may be playing Chris Rodriguez in the series, but it’s important to note that this is not confirmed by any reliable sources.  

Adult cast members include Virginia Kull as Sally Jackson, Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysis, Megan Mullally as Mrs. Dodds/Alecto, and Glynn Turman as Chiron (RickRiordan.com/news).  The series began filming in Vancouver, British Columbia in June and is expected to continue filming through early 2023.  

This year’s D23 convention included many announcements regarding movies, series, documentaries, and other content coming to Disney+ in upcoming years. Saturday night at around 7:30 p.m. Rick Riordan and the cast of Percy Jackson and the Olympians presented a panel, providing eager fans with much-anticipated content surrounding the show. Most significantly, a teaser trailer was unveiled. Although under a minute long, it contained many exciting shots from the show that fans are attempting to unpack all over social media.  

The teaser trailer is a compilation of shots from the show spliced together under a voiceover of Walker Scobell reciting Percy’s unforgettable monologue from The Lightning Thief: “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood…” Such scenes from the trailer include the Camp Half-Blood cabins, Scobell in costume as Percy Jackson, and Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse La Rue surrounded by other demigod campers. Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri were not featured in the trailer, but according to Riordan’s most recent blog post, even though these characters aren’t pictured, “when you see what else is coming… wow.  It will be worth the wait.”

Other Percy Jackson content unveiled at the convention includes two stills from the show: one of Scobell as Percy in what fans believe to be a uniform from the private school he attends at the beginning of the book, and another of him and Sally Jackson having what appears to be a dramatic mother-son moment in the rain.  

Since the panel at D23, a Percy Jackson and the Olympians show card is now available on Disney+. Prospective viewers can access the teaser trailer, and see that the show has been categorized under the genres of family, fantasy, and action-adventure.  

According to the streaming service, Percy Jackson and the Olympians will debut on Disney+ in 2024. The wait may be long, but fans of the series are confident in Riordan, the cast, and the crew’s ability to do justice in bringing their favorite series to life.